Women's Fund Grantees (Grants awarded in December 2011 for work in 2012)
Children's Justice Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center: $10,000
Focus Area: Preventing Teen Pregnancy
Geographic Area: Statewide
This grant will provide access to youth-friendly health care for young women who visit the Children's Justice Center. The Children's Justice Center provides forensic medical exams and medical treatment to one of the most vulnerable populations: children and teens who are alleged to be victims of sexual abuse. Too often, young women who visit the Center have been sexually abused and then return to unsafe environments. This population is very high risk for sexually transmitted diseases/HIV and pregnancy. The Center is addressing one of the core problems--only 40% of all young women aged 12-17 have time alone with a health provider to discuss reproductive health care needs. Most of the young women who visit the Center have never had any type of gynecological exam. The Center staff will ensure these young women have access to basic preventive health care services and education so that they are less likely to become pregnant or become infected with a sexually transmitted infection. The Center staff will also follow up with each young woman for at least one year after her initial visit.
Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, Batterer's Intervention Program: $10,000
Focus Area: Preventing Violence Against Women
Geographic Area: 11 counties surrounding Hattiesburg
With this grant, the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter (DAFS) will provide the court-ordered Batterer's Intervention Program (BIP) and law enforcement trainings in the 11-county area surrounding Hattiesburg. The DAFS has been offering the BIP program since 1995. Funding from the Women's Fund will allow the BIP program to continue despite funding cuts. This grant will also enable DAFS to provide additional law enforcement trainings. The BIP program is an evidence-based program that has been shown to change the behavior of offenders, thereby preventing further acts of domestic violence (similar to the BIP program at the Center for Violence Prevention).
Mississippi First, Creating Healthy and Responsible Teens (C.H.A.R.T.): $10,000
Focus Area: Preventing Teen Pregnancy
Geographic Area: Statewide
The C.H.A.R.T. initiative aims to reduce Mississippi’s rates of teen birth and sexually transmitted infections. In Phase 1 of C.H.A.R.T., Mississippi First (MF) designed and proposed a model sex education policy for school districts and began a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Health to recommend curricula and provide training opportunities to school officials. Support from the Women’s Fund will enable MF to pursue goals and activities related to Phase II, the advocacy phase. During the advocacy phase, MF will travel to local districts in counties with the highest teen birth rates and advocate for the adoption and implementation of evidence-based, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education programs. MF hopes that over time a shift in local school districts’ sex education policies will lead to changes in individual students’ behavior, i.e., a decrease in the number of teens engaging in risky sexual behavior. Evidence of the success of Mississippi First is the fact that as of December 12, 2011, 1 school district had adopted an abstinence-only policy and 6 school districts had adopted the CHART policy. These districts are Benton County, Tunica County, Marshall County, Coahoma County, Clarksdale Municipal, and Western Line. This is the 2nd consecutive year the Women's Fund has funded this program.
Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative, Child Care Matters Campaign: $15,000
Focus Area: Interceding for Vulnerable Children; Early Child Care and Education
Geographic Area: Statewide
This grant will support a targeted campaign titled "Child Care Matters." This campaign will emphasize child care as a work support for low wage earning parents, mostly single mothers, and also organize MLICCI's constituency (child care providers and parents) to be more engaged in decision making on child care funding and policy matters. Mississippi's Child Care Certificate program serves more vulnerable children than any other program in the state but it currently reaches only about 16% of eligible children, and over 12,000 are on the waiting list. The overall goals of the Child Care Matters Campaign are 1) to achieve increased funding for child care centers serving low income families and 2) to enact reforms in the child care certificate program so that it can better serve children and families.
The Center for Violence Prevention, Rural County Focus: $5,000
Focus Area: Preventing Violence Against Women
Geographic Area: Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Issaquena, Madison, Rankin, Sharkey, Simpson, Warren, Yazoo
This grant addresses the severe lack of legal and victim services in rural Copiah, Sharkey, Claiborne, Madison, Yazoo, Warren and Simpson counties. The Center’s staff will do the following: train attorneys and court officials to better understand the dynamics of domestic abuse; provide battered individuals with holistic legal representation; provide training services to local law enforcement, social workers, attorneys, and community organizations through a coordinated community response program; and provide the Duluth Model Batterer’s Intervention Program (BIP) within these rural counties. The BIP program is an innovative, evidence-based model that teaches offenders alternatives to coercive, controlling, and abusive behavior in intimate relationships. This is the 2nd consecutive year the Women's Fund has funded this program.
Featured Case Studies:
Children's Justice Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center
THE WOMEN'S FUND OF MISSISSIPPI